Reece growled. “Shelby…”
She shrugged. “He already knows.”
Dylan just laughed harder, until tears rolled down his cheeks. “Oh man,” he said finally, gasping for breath. “I never thought I’d see the day. I like you, Shelby. A lot. You’re good for him.”
“I like you, too, Dylan.” And she did. He seemed like a nice guy, a little on the nerdy side and not nearly as stuffy as the rest of the dinner guests.
Reece grumbled again and Dylan straightened, knuckling away his tears. “It’s okay, buddy. I remember what it was like to be a newlywed. But…you might want to beg off the rest of the night. You can’t go back in there looking like that or everyone will know. I’ll make all the proper excuses for you.”
Leaving now was an irresponsible thing to do. Then again, staying was probably even more irresponsible at this point. Either way, if he offended James, he was putting his employees and brothers at risk of losing their jobs.
He needed to learn how to control himself around Shelby. Maintaining control had never been an issue in the past, but now? All he had to do was touch her and he was lost, and it was causing him to make bad decisions.
A quickie in the closet wasn’t worth losing everything he’d worked for. And it wasn’t going to happen again.
Too many beats of silence passed as he mentally berated himself for losing control.
Finally, Shelby looped her arm through his. “I already told everyone you weren’t feeling well when I left the table to come looking for you. Dylan can elaborate on that, and tomorrow you can call James and apologize. Tell him you had some sort of twenty-four hour thing.”
Dylan was nodding. “Listen to your wife, man. Go home.”
Reece swore under his breath. “All right. But if he starts talking about the merger—”
“He won’t,” Dylan insisted. “He already said tonight wasn’t about business. Go. I think I hear Alicia coming this way.”
Shelby pulled him toward the door, and he gave up protesting. They were right. Even before Shelby’s distraction, he hadn’t been in top form tonight.
This was for the better.
The valet retrieved his SUV, and he held the door for Shelby before circling around the hood and climbing behind the wheel. He didn’t say anything more to her—didn’t know what to say. He put the Escalade in gear and drove away from the mansion.
“So.” Shelby said after the silence between them started getting heavy. “That was fun.”
“It was stupid.”
“Ouch.” She was silent for another moment. “I’m sorry. I really thought you were mad at me, and it…hurt. I just wanted to make you as uncomfortable in that situation as I was, but I swear I had no intention of letting it go as far as it did. It’s just…we were suddenly in the closet, and things were coming out of my mouth I shouldn’t have been saying, and all I could think of was how much I wanted you again.”
Some of the knots in his shoulders loosened. He stopped the SUV at a red light and glanced over at her. “I’m sorry I let James make you uncomfortable. I should have spoken up, but—”
“You’re afraid of what will happen to your companies if you do. At least your motives were altruistic. Mine were just childish. As usual.” Sighing heavily, she leaned the side of her head against the window. The streetlamps cast a soft yellow glow over her face, making her look years younger, very much like the lost little girl she once was. “Sometimes I wonder what’s wrong with me, why it’s so hard to act like a normal, responsible adult. Why am I so different?”
“I know how that feels.”
She turned enough in her seat to look at him. “No, you don’t. You’re Mr. Responsible.”
“Yeah, but I know what different feels like.” The light turned green, but he didn’t hit the gas. He tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the steering wheel for a moment. Easier to show her what he meant than to explain. “Are you in a hurry to get home?”
“No. Why?”
“I want to show you something.”
Chapter Sixteen
Shelby had no clue where he was taking her. They left the city and ended up in Arlington, but he still wouldn’t answer any of her questions about their destination.
Okay, then. Top secret.
She tried to fill the silence with small talk and, when that didn’t work, decided to go for something with a little more shock value. “I think I know who your blackmailer is.”
That caught his attention. His gaze zeroed in on her. “What?”
“You and Lena Schilling had a thing, right?”
“Who told you that?”
“Alicia.”
“Jesus.” He shook his head. Pushed out a sigh. “No. It was one date, years ago. Afterward, she very insistently tried to invite me back to her place, and I turned her down. That was the end of it.”
“Oh, you silly man. That wasn’t the end of it. She’s still bitter.”